Coral bleaching in Raja Ampat
WHILE ON A 10-DAY LIVEABOARD TRIP in Indonesia’ s Raja Ampat region, we were fortunate to have local diving expert Jack Burns come onboard. He gave us a presentation on the recent work carried out by Dr Phil Dunstan, which gave a rather different perspective from the normal assumption that climate change and rising sea temperatures are responsible for the local coral bleaching.
The species-specific coral beaching was only evident in the Dampier Strait and not generally in other areas. The Dampier Strait is one of the most marine diverse reef systems on the planet, this being due to the confluence of two major ocean currents. Where the currents collide, the nutrients become trapped, thus benefitting the local marine environment. However pollutants are also trapped in this way.
Dr Dunstan’ s research, backed by comprehensive statistics, showed that tourism and( as a consequence) local population has increased greatly in recent years. I personally can vouch for this as there were many times more liveaboards than when I visited 14 years ago.
One unwanted consequence of this is vastly increased waste water, human sewage, which ends up in the sea, either directly from liveaboards or from on land septic tanks. These pollutants, trapped and concentrated, in the Dampier Strait, are causing the coral bleaching.
The positive aspect of this is that there are local solutions. Max Ammer at Sorido Resort on Kri Island has developed waste water treatment using plants and natural filtration. Jack Burns has similarly successfully developed a system of treatment at his homestay that even uses waste in his food production. Both these systems could be scaled up to serve villages and homestays, given adequate funding. Alex Bryant, CEO of Emperor Divers is currently looking into equipping liveaboards with treatment plants.
With enough publicity from the diving press and support from the international diving community, perhaps investment could be found to preserve this truly precious environment and a sustainable future for tourism and the local population. TONY BACKHURST( formerly of Scuba Travel)
A hypocritical inconsistency?
IT’ S HARD TO IGNORE THE IRONY: WHILE HAND-DIVING FOR scallops— a low-impact, selective, and sustainable method— is banned during closed seasons, industrial dredging often continues just beyond the same boundaries. For divers who carefully select mature scallops( less than 2 % of total catch landed annually) and leave the seabed untouched, these blanket closures feel less like conservation and more like misdirected regulation.
Dredging, the method accounting for 98 % of total landed scallop catch, is by contrast widely documented to cause immense environmental damage. It tears up seabeds, destroys vital habitats like seagrass beds and maerl, and often results in high bycatch of juvenile scallops and other species. Yet, in many parts of the UK there is a closed season for hand diving scallops during peak recreational diving season from May / June – October, while in Irish waters it’ s outright prohibited.
The current policy framework appears to punish the most sustainable fishing practices while allowing the most destructive to continue. If the objective was to protect scallop populations then why are the prohibitions so disproportionate to the impact of the methods deployed?
It is high time for the recreational diving community, as prime advocates for marine conservation, to step into the fore and challenge these outdated, one-size-fits-all closures and propose reform for one that genuinely prioritises marine ecosystem health. STUART WATSON, Belfast
Blue Coats, blue water
OVER THE EASTER HOLIDAY, MEMBERS OF READING Blue Coat School’ s sub-aqua club completed their BSAC Ocean Diver qualification on a diving expedition to Cyprus with Rec2Tech, a BSAC Centre of Excellence, owned by Will and Evonne.
The first three days were spent shore diving local sites around Paphos to complete their open water training. The next couple of days were spent diving reefs and caves, as well as further offshore from a boat on two shipwrecks to depths of 20m.
The dive centre and staff were fantastic and I recommend them to anyone looking to scuba dive in Cyprus. JAMES HICKMAN, Reading Blue Coat School
Erratum In the May 2025 SCUBA Chat,‘ The positive power of scuba’ should have been credited to Stafford Sub-Aqua Club. Our apologies for the error, and we look forward to reporting on the club’ s future activities.
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